Indian tea industry stands to face mounting losses due to CODIV-19
Darjeeling/Kolkata, 6 April (HS): The age old tea industry in West Bengal which currently produces around 350 million kilograms of famous Darjeeling tea every season, generating a revenue of over Rs 12,000 crores per annum, is now facing the danger of a huge loss this year because of COVID-19 pandemic.
According to sources at Kolkata based ‘Tea Board’, the sole government agency to promote the cultivation, processing, and domestic trade as well as export of tea, millions of kg of world class tea leaf were now being wasted in the gardens as they could not be plucked by the workers for fear of spreading the killer disease among themselves.
“Since the demand for Darjeeling tea after the first flush was maximum in the global market, we are facing the danger of experiencing tremendous losses of up to 40 percent this season,” the sources said.
The first flush of Darjeeling tea is considered to be the best in the world both in terms of its flavour and taste and this is the reason that it attracts the highest price in the market.
Since the plucking of this first flush Darjeeling tea required special expertise, any random worker cannot do that and once again regretted for the huge loss in the income of both the garden owners as well of the government because of their high export values.
“The fear of Corona virus has so deeply gripped the labourers and other workers of all the 56 tea gardens in Darjeeling and terai areas, that none of them were coming out of their house during the locked down period leading to the huge loss of the owners,” the sources said.
It might take a number of years to return to normal condition, they said and added that since the export of Indian tea which had been passing through a difficult period for the past few years following strong competition from a number of countries, particularly those from Sri Lanka, Kenya and Brazil,they would face a much tougher time because of the threats from COVID-19.
At least one woman has so far lost her life and another 20 found infected from the noval corona virus in North Bengal alone during the past few days.
